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2007 Boston bomb scare
:"We protest the portrayal of our art as being a crime in any way, and the waste of taxpayer's money thereto. We figure these people should be paid to do something useful. This, quite clearly, is not it."-What Adult Swim SHOULD HAVE said in response The '''2007 Boston bomb scare' occurred on Wednesday, January 31, 2007, after both the Wikipedia:Boston Police Department and the Wikipedia:Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered Wikipedia:LED placards resembling two characters from the Wikipedia:Adult Swim animated television series Wikipedia:Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Wikipedia:improvised explosive devices. Placed throughout Wikipedia:Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding cities of Cambridge and Somerville, these devices were part of a Wikipedia:guerrilla marketing Wikipedia:advertising campaign for Wikipedia:Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, a film based on the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The incident led to controversy and criticism from a number of media sources, including Wikipedia:The Boston Globe, Wikipedia:Los Angeles Times, Wikipedia:Fox News, Wikipedia:The San Francisco Chronicle, Wikipedia:New York Times, Wikipedia:CNN, and Wikipedia:The Boston Herald, some of which ridiculed the city's response to the devices as disproportionate and indicative of a Wikipedia:generation gap between city officials and the younger residents of Boston at whom the ads were targeted. Several sources noted that the hundreds of officers in the Boston police department or city emergency planning office on scene were unable to identify the figure depicted for several hours until a younger staffer at Mayor Wikipedia:Thomas Menino's office saw the media coverage and recognized the figures as cartoon characters from a syndicated TV show. After the devices were removed, the Boston Police Department stated in their defense that the ad devices shared "some characteristics with improvised explosive devices", which they said included an "identifiable power source, a circuit board with exposed wiring, and electrical tape". Investigators were not mollified by the discovery that the devices were not explosive in nature, stating they still intended to determine "if this event was a Wikipedia:hoax or something else entirely". Though city Wikipedia:prosecutors eventually concluded there was no ill intent involved in the placing of the ads, the city continues to refer to the event as a "bomb hoax" rather than a "scare". Planning In November 2006, Wikipedia:Boston area artist Wikipedia:Zebbler (aka Peter Berdovsky) met John (aka VJ Aiwaz) in Wikipedia:New York City. John worked for a marketing organization named Wikipedia:Interference, Inc., and asked Berdovsky if he would be interested in working on a promotional project. Berdovsky agreed and enlisted the help of Sean Stevens for the project. Interference shipped Berdovsky 40 electronic signs. Adrienne Yee of Interference e-mailed him a list of suggested locations and a list of things not to do. According to police, the suggested locations for the devices included "train stations, overpasses, hip/trendy areas and high traffic/high visibility areas." The signs were to be put up discreetly overnight. They were to be paid $300 each for their assistance. Berdovsky, Stevens, and Dana Seaver put up 20 magnetic lights in the middle of January. They dubbed the activity "Boston Mission 1." While Stevens and Berdovsky put up the lights, Seaver recorded the activity on video and sent a copy to Interference. On the night of January 29, 2007, in what was called "Boston Mission 2," 18 more magnetic lights were put in place. This included one under Wikipedia:Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square in Charlestown. Devices thumb|200px|The devices were not lit until the afternoon. The devices closely resembled the Night Writer promoted by the Wikipedia:Graffiti Research Lab in early 2006.Night Writer The devices were promotional electronic placards for the forthcoming Wikipedia:Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. Each device, measuring about 1 by 1.5 feet, consisted of a Wikipedia:printed circuit board (PCB) with black Wikipedia:soldermask, Wikipedia:light-emitting diodes, and other electronic components soldered to it, including numerous Wikipedia:resistors, a few Wikipedia:capacitors, and at least one Wikipedia:integrated circuit package. At the bottom was a pack of four Wikipedia:Publix brand D-cell batteries, with magnets attached to the back so the devices could be easily mounted on any ferromagnetic surface. The batteries were originally covered in black tape to blend in with the black PCB. The Wikipedia:LED lights were arranged to represent the Mooninite characters displaying Wikipedia:the middle finger. Two variants were manufactured with the LEDs arranged in pixelated likenesses of Ignignokt and Err, Mooninite characters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Wikipedia:Massachusetts Attorney General Wikipedia:Martha Coakley said the device "had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires." Others compared the displays to the Wikipedia:Lite-Brite electric toy in appearance. The scare On January 31, 2007, at 8:05 a.m., a passenger spotted the device on a Wikipedia:stanchion that supports an elevated section of Interstate 93 (I-93), above Sullivan Station and told a policeman with the Wikipedia:Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) of its presence. At 9 a.m., the Wikipedia:Boston Police Department bomb squad received a phone call from the MBTA requesting assistance in identifying the device. Authorities responded with what the Wikipedia:Boston Globe described as "an army of emergency vehicles" at the scene, including police cruisers, fire trucks, ambulances, and the Boston Police Department bomb squad. Also present were live TV crews, large crowd of onlookers, and helicopters circling overhead. Peter Berdovsky, who had placed the device, went to the scene and video recorded the situation. Berdovsky recognized the device with which the police were dealing, but made no attempt to inform the police at the scene. Berdovsky returned to his apartment and contacted Interference, the company who had hired him to place the lights. He was told by Interference that they would handle informing the police and that he should personally say nothing about the situation.Man in Boston Scare Videotaped Police: Defendant in Boston marketing stunt scare videotaped police response, attorney says Feb. 6, 2007 During the preliminary investigation at the site, police found that the device shared "some characteristics with Wikipedia:improvised explosive devices." These characteristics included an identifiable power source, circuit board with exposed wiring, and electrical tape. After the initial assessment, Boston police shut down the northbound side of I-93 and parts of the public transportation system. Just after 10 a.m., the bomb squad used a small explosive filled with water to destroy the device as a precaution. MBTA Transit police Lieutenant Salvatore Venturelli told the media at the scene, "This is a perfect example of our passengers taking part in Wikipedia:homeland security." He refused to describe the object in detail because of the ongoing investigation, responding only that "It's not consistent with equipment that would be there normally." Investigators were trying to determine "if it was a hoax or something else entirely," according to Venturelli. Northbound I-93 reopened to traffic at about 10:05 a.m. By 10:21 a.m. it was determined to be "some sort of hoax device," according to a police timeline of the events. thumb|left|200px|Close-up of one of the [[Wikipedia:LED displays resembling Wikipedia:Ignignokt while being lit.]] At 12:54 p.m., Boston police received a call identifying a similar device located at the intersection of Stuart and Charles Street. At 1:11 p.m. the Wikipedia:Massachusetts State Police requested assistance from the bomb squad with devices found under the Longfellow and Boston University bridges. Both bridges were closed as a precaution, and the Coast Guard closed the river to boat traffic. At 1:26 p.m., friends of Peter Berdovsky received an e-mail from him, which alleged that five hours into the scare, an Interference Inc. executive requested Berdovsky "keep everything on the dl." Travis Vautour, a friend of Berdovsky, stated: "We received an e-mail in the early afternoon from Peter that asked the community that he's a part of to keep any information we had on the down low and that was instructed to him by whoever his boss was." Two hours later, Interference notified their client, Wikipedia:Cartoon Network. Between 2 and 3 p.m., a police analyst identified the image on the devices as an Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon character, and police concluded the incident was a publicity stunt. Wikipedia:Turner Broadcasting System issued a statement concerning the event at around 4:30 p.m. Portions of the Turner statement read: "We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger. The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Wikipedia:Atlanta, Wikipedia:Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Wikipedia:Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger." Some devices had been up for two weeks in the cities listed before the Boston incident occurred, although no permits were ever secured for the devices' installation. The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference, Inc., made no comment on the situation and their website was down (restored as of February 3, 2007). Berdovsky and Stevens, the individuals hired by Interference to install the signs, were arrested by Boston police during the evening of January 31, and charged with violating Chapter 266: Section 102A½ of the Wikipedia:General Laws of Massachusetts, which states that it is illegal to display a "hoax device" with the motive to cause citizens to feel threatened, unsafe, and concerned. Both were held at the State Police South Boston barracks overnight and were released on $2,500 bail from the Charlestown District Court the following morning. Reactions thumb|left|Err [[Wikipedia:advertisement located in Wikipedia:Los Angeles.]] The Boston Globe stated that the "marketing gambit exposes a wide generation gap," quoting one 29-year-old blogger as writing "Repeat after me, authorities. L-E-D. Not I-E-D. Get it?" The Globe s Brainiac blog was quick to credit bloggers such as Todd Vanderlin and Brian Stuart for being among the first to report on the ad's origin. The Brainiac blog earned praise from other media outlets for their timely coverage of events, even as the paper continued to report on simply "suspicious objects". Wikipedia:Los Angeles Times editorials derided the reaction of Boston's officials, remarking, "Emergency personnel and anti-terrorism squads shut down more than a dozen highways, transit stations and other locations across the city Wednesday after receiving reports about multiple suspicious devices. The slender, placemat-sized items had dozens of colored lights, exposed wires and circuitry, and were powered by a row of D batteries wrapped in black tape. In other words, they looked like an upscale version of Wikipedia:Hasbro's Wikipedia:Lite-Brite, a toy for artistic gradexschoolers." Wikipedia:Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and writer on contemporary security issues, summed up the incident as a "non-terrorist embarrassment in Boston".Schneier on Security: Non-Terrorist Embarrassment in Boston February 1, 2007 Wikipedia:The Boston Herald stated that part of the reaction in the response could be blamed on two packages that did not blink. According to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, phony pipe bombs were also discovered that day, one inside Tufts-New England Medical Center at 1 p.m. A security guard described "an agitated white male" fleeing saying, "God is warning you that today is going to be a sad day." The Herald went on to characterize the placement of the devices as a "coordinated hoax." Davis also mentioned other incidents of the day that may have influenced the reaction, including a Washington, D.C. metro stop being shut down due to a suspected package, and fumes emanating from a package at a post office in New York City, resulting in four people being treated there. "It was almost like we had a kind of Wikipedia:perfect storm of circumstances falling into place," Davis said. The advertising magazine Wikipedia:Brandweek said that the incident, which it labeled a fiasco, would cause marketers to "steer clear of guerrilla tactics until the controversy around the Aqua Teen Hunger Force stunt-turned-bomb-scare in Boston dies down." It further said the incident "will no doubt be followed by a reassessment of the potential price of what used to be known as a low-cost method to generate buzz." According to Wikipedia:Fox News, fans of Aqua Teen Hunger Force mocked Boston officials during the press conference of Berdovsky and Stevens, calling the arrests an overreaction, while holding signs supporting the actions of the two. These signs had slogans such as "Free Peter" and "1-31-07 Never Forget," satirizing Mayor Tom Menino's mentions of 9/11.Suspects Refuse to Answer Questions on Botched 'Aqua Teen' Marketing Scheme February 2, 2007 Other local Boston residents were quoted by local papers. "We all thought it was pretty funny," said one student. "The majority of us recognize the difference between a bomb and a Lite-Brite," said another.Blown out of proportion Feb 2, 2007 One resident said that the police response was "silly and insane," and that "we're the laughingstock."Many young Bostonians think city overreacted: ‘We’re the laughingstock,’ resident says after cartoon signs prompt scare Feb 1, 2007 Wikipedia:Something Positive, a Wikipedia:webcomic written and drawn by Waltham resident Wikipedia:R. K. Milholland, also weighed in on the issue. Bloggers on a Boston Wikipedia:LiveJournal community commented on channel 4 footage of the first device being exploded and clearly identified it as a "Mooninite," reacting in disbelief. One blogger pointed out the similarity to what he called "Super Mario Question Block Hysteria all over again" in which five high school girls in Wikipedia:Ravenna, Ohio, following the lead of Toronto street artist Posterchild, placed brightly colored boxes with question marks resembling the Wikipedia:Super Mario Bros. game around town, and drew the bomb squad and possible prosecution. Similar boxes had been placed around various universities in the country including the University of Massachusetts. The effort was part of an artistic and political commentary on the use of community areas which spread during 2005 and 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060615102722/http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/14239923.htm Karl Carter of Atlanta-based Guerrilla Tactics Media said fans of the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force would recognize the character and think it was funny, but other people who saw the signs wouldn't get the joke. "This is probably better set up for nightclubs and other sorts of scenarios where the people that are receiving the message, one, would know what it's about, but also two, wouldn't be frightened," he said. "You know, if you put these in certain environments, like public spaces in this post-9/11 sensitivity, then of course you're going to wind up in trouble." Make magazine editor Phillip Torrone said the advertisers should have used better judgment, but called the Mooninite board a "neat electronic project."Boston stunt creates PR buzz saw instead of buzz February 5, 2007 As reported by Wikipedia:Boing Boing, the media and the State of Massachusetts insisted on maintaining the use of the words "bomb hoax" when describing the event, despite Turner Broadcasting Systems' firm contentions that the devices were not intended to resemble bombs and the company had no intent to arouse suspicion or panic in approving the advertising campaign.State of Massachusetts insists on calling ATHF ads "hoax devices" February 2, 2007 On February 27, 2007, just a month after the incident, the Boston police bomb squad responded and detonated another object that they believed to be a bomb, which turned out to be a city-owned Wikipedia:traffic counter. The next day, Bax and O'Brien on the Western Massachusetts radio station Wikipedia:WAQY weighed in, with John O'Brien saying, "and they devices were also placed in Boston over two weeks ago. I don't think the terrorism officials in Boston are very observant ... Good thing September 11 didn't happen here. We wouldn't have found it until September 20." In the months following the scare, stickers reading, "Don't Panic! This is NOT A BOMB. Do not be afraid. Do not call the police. Stop letting the terrorists win," began to appear on Boston parking meters, ATMs, and other objects in public. On March 18, 2007, at the annual Wikipedia:St. Patrick's Day Breakfast in Wikipedia:South Boston, jokes were made about the incident by Massachusetts politicians. Tom Menino said it was a good way to obtain a local aid package for the city (referring to the $1 million in "good faith money for homeland security" that Cartoon Network paid the city of Boston to avoid a lawsuit). Congressman Stephen Lynch claimed that the Mooninites were part of a sleeper cell that also included SpongeBob SquarePants. State Treasurer Wikipedia:Timothy P. Cahill held up a picture of a Mooninite with Wikipedia:Mitt Romney's face on it, saying "We had to blur out his real feelings about Massachusetts."live CW56 broadcast of the St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, March 18, 2007 Aftermath thumb|right|''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' promotional devices were displayed in 10 different cities. This is one of them, identified at the entrance to [[Wikipedia:Peachtree Center (MARTA station)|Peachtree Center MARTA station in Wikipedia:Atlanta, Georgia.]] On February 5, 2007 state and local agencies came to an agreement with both Turner Broadcasting and Interference, Inc., to pay for costs incurred in the incident. As part of the settlement, which resolves any potential civil or criminal claims against the companies, Turner and Interference agreed to pay $2 million: $1 million to go to the Boston Police Department and $1 million to the Wikipedia:Department of Homeland Security. This was in addition to the companies' apologies, which local authorities deemed too little as announced by Wikipedia:Dan Conley, Wikipedia:District Attorney for Wikipedia:Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in a speech on Wikipedia:NWCN, saying the people who are responsible for this "reckless stunt", are Wikipedia:liable for the havoc it caused to both the city and the region. On February 9, 2007, the week after the commotion occurred, Cartoon Network's manager, Jim Samples, resigned "in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch", and with the "hope that my decision allows us to put this chapter behind us and get back to our mission of delivering unrivaled original animated entertainment for consumers of all ages". In total, 10 cities were involved in the marketing campaign, which began two to three weeks before the incident in Boston. The Wikipedia:NYPD contacted Interference, Inc., to request a list of 41 locations where the devices were installed. Officers were able to locate and remove only two devices, both located on an overpass at 33rd Street and Wikipedia:West Side Highway. The NYPD did not receive any complaints about the devices, according to police spokesman Paul Brown. At 9:30 p.m. on the evening of January 31, the Wikipedia:Chicago Police Department received a list of installation locations from Interference, Inc. Police recovered and disposed of 20 of the 35 devices. Police Superintendent Philip Cline admonished those responsible for the campaign, stating, "one of the devices could have easily been mistaken for a bomb and set off enough panic to alarm the entire city." Cline went on to say that, on February 1, he asked Turner Broadcasting to reimburse the city for funds spent on locating and disposing of the devices. Two men were briefly held in connection to the incident. Fewer than 20 devices were found in Seattle and neither the Wikipedia:Seattle Police Department nor the Wikipedia:King County Sheriff's Office received Wikipedia:9-1-1 calls regarding them. King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart stated, "To us, they're so obviously not suspicious ... We don't consider them dangerous. In this day and age, whenever anything remotely suspicious shows up, people get concerned —and that's good. However, people don't need to be concerned about this. These are cartoon characters giving the finger." Interference, Inc., hired two people to distribute 20 devices throughout Philadelphia on January 11. One of these was Ryan, a 24-year-old from Wikipedia:Fishtown, who claimed that he was promised $300 for installing the devices, only 18 of which were actually functional. Following the scare in Boston, the Wikipedia:Philadelphia Police Department recovered three of the 18 devices. Joe Grace, spokesman for Philadelphia Mayor Wikipedia:John F. Street, was quoted as saying, "We think it was a stupid, regrettable, irresponsible stunt by Turner. We do not take kindly to it." A cease-and-desist letter was sent to Turner, threatening fines for violating zoning codes. No devices were retrieved in Los Angeles and Lieutenant Paul Vernon of the Wikipedia:Los Angeles Police Department stated that "no one perceived them as a threat." The many Los Angeles signs were up for over two weeks before the Boston scare without incident. Police Sergeant Brian Schmautz stated that officers in Portland had not been dispatched to remove the devices, and did not plan to unless they were found on municipal property. He added, "At this point, we wouldn't even begin an investigation, because there's no reason to believe a crime has occurred." A device was placed in inside 11th Ave. Liquor on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland, where it remains. San Francisco Police Sergeant Neville Gittens said that Interference, Inc., was removing them, except for one found by art gallery owner Jamie Alexander, who reportedly "thought it was cool" and had it taken down after it ceased to function. Berdovsky and Stevens were arrested on the day of the incident and charged with placing a hoax device to incite panic, a felony charge that carries a five-year maximum sentence, and one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. Both pleaded not guilty to the two charges and were later released on a $2,500 cash bond. At their arraignment, Assistant Attorney General John Grossman claimed that the two were trying to "get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location." Michael Rich, the lawyer representing both men, disputed Grossman's claim, asserting that even a VCR could be found to fit the description of a bomb-like device. Judge Leary said that it would be necessary for the prosecution to demonstrate an intent on the part of the suspects to cause a panic. The judge continued, "It appears the suspects had no such intent ... but the question should be discussed in a later hearing." After making bail, Berdovsky and Stevens appeared for a live press conference. As Rich had advised them not to discuss the case, they spent the entire conference discussing and inviting press questions about hair styles of the 1970s, and ignoring any questions relating to the bomb scare. On March 1, 2007, Senator Edward Kennedy, D-MA, introduced S.735, "The Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007." It would amend Cheng, Jaqui, Mooninites, meet the Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act, ars technica, May 8, 2007, retrieved May 8, 2007 }} The bill never came to a vote.S. 735 [110th: Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007 (GovTrack.us)] On May 11, 2007, prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges against Berdovsky and Stevens, in exchange for community service and a public apology. Attorney General Wikipedia:Martha Coakley cited the difficulty in proving intent to incite panic on the part of the two men and called the deal "an appropriate and fair resolution." Berdovsky and Stevens completed 80 and 60 hours of community service at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center in Boston, respectively. The incident prompted opportunists to acquire the promotional devices from other cities and auction them on Wikipedia:eBay, with prices ranging from $500 to over $5,000 USD. Other eBay users created merchandise commemorating the event, including T-shirts, stickers, and custom LED signs. An Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode from season five entitled "Boston" was produced as the series creators' response to the bomb scare, but Adult Swim pulled it to avoid further controversy. As of 2014, "Boston" has never aired, and has never been released to the public in any format. References External links Wikipedia:Template:Aqua Teen Hunger Force Wikipedia:Portal:2000s Wikipedia:Commons:Category:Aqua Teen Hunger Force [http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=434570304&size=s&context=set-72157600027301368 Aqua Teen Hunger Force Ignignot LED] on Wikipedia:Flickr * Peter Berdovsky's website ** Movie from Berdovsky's website about the marketing campaign * Sean Stevens' website * superfiction.com (Another Peter Berdovsky website) * Initial coverage & discussion on Blue Mass Group * Catching Up With an Aqua Teen Terrorist Category:Aqua Teen Hunger Force Category:Advertising campaigns Category:Boston Police Department Category:Graffiti and unauthorised signage Category:Scandals in the United States Boston Bomb Scare, 2007 Category:Adult Swim Category:21st century in Boston, Massachusetts Category:Media-related controversies in the United States Category:Williams Street Studios series and characters Category:American animated television series Category:American television series Category:Animated television series Category:Television series Category:Animation Category:Animated television programs Category:Television series by genre Category:Animated series Category:War on Terror